ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

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jbaber
 
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ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by jbaber »

Hello -
My son and I have built the clock, passing every test along the way. We have the correct voltages and beeps however, on final assembly, the display has random segments illuminated. Pushing the menu button changes which segments are lit, one even seems to count as the segments change every second. I have double-checked that all of the components are aligned correctly, that the chips' pin 1s are in the right location, that there are no shorts and that the tube's three unused wires are lined up to the 'Display-NC' on the pcb. I have even resoldered all the components to make sure there were no opens. My clock looks just like the pictures in the build-to. Any ideas? My final thought may be that the VFD boost chip got scrambled by the x-ray that my mail goes through (I live overseas). Thanks in advance for you thoughts.

adafruit
 
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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by adafruit »

please post an image with what the display is showing

jbaber
 
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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by jbaber »

This is a time-lapse photo because the light is so dim it wouldn't be photo-graphable otherwise.
It looks something like this:
_ _ _ _
| | |_ | | |_| _|
| |. | |. | . | |. |
Attachments
Lit Segments.JPG
Lit Segments.JPG (119.52 KiB) Viewed 2765 times

adafruit
 
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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by adafruit »

can you post a clear photo of your tube where its soldered in, the half-round PCB and the top & bottom of the kit?

jbaber
 
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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by jbaber »

Hi Ada, thanks for responding...
Here are the photos.
Attachments
Tube showing solders
Tube showing solders
Tube PCB.jpg (285.88 KiB) Viewed 2723 times
PCB bottom showing solders
PCB bottom showing solders
PCB bottom.jpg (283.49 KiB) Viewed 2723 times
PCB top showing the components
PCB top showing the components
PCB Top.jpg (315.86 KiB) Viewed 2723 times

jbaber
 
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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by jbaber »

and finally..
a picture showing the tube's alignment...
Attachments
This shows the 3 'NC's of the tube going to the 'Display-NC' of the board.
This shows the 3 'NC's of the tube going to the 'Display-NC' of the board.
Tube connect.jpg (208.53 KiB) Viewed 2723 times

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alishl06
 
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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by alishl06 »

It looks like the display connector is installed on the wrong side of the board. The connector should be mounted on the same side as the tube.

jbaber
 
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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by jbaber »

dang it, cracked the tube trying to de-solder. Got some from e-bay, I'll let you know how it goes.

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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by adafruit »

you shouldnt be desoldering the tube, its on correctly. its the -connector- thats backwards. see the photos in the instructions, you can click for a larger version

jbaber
 
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Re: ICE Cube clock displays gibberish

Post by jbaber »

Finally got it all put together. I had broken the tube while de-soldering the 90 deg. double row. I got another from e-bay, even had to get another 90 deg, connector. Put it all together and the clock is working fine. Thanks for your help troubleshooting this. Cheers.

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